clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Open Thread: Game 132 - A's at Angels

Homer chases after them, much to Rod and Todd's chagrin.
Maude begs Ned to step on it, but Ned complains, "I can't! It's a Geo!"
Remember those cute, little, inexpensive cars under the Chevy brand? The Geo? Before I turned 16, I wanted a Geo Storm for sure. It was sporty, it was less than $10k, and as far as I knew, it worked just fine on the highway. But over time, the Geo line was seen for what they were - underpowered, and after a while, they were discontinued. You can't buy a Geo these days, and next year's 16-year-olds may have been born after the Storm and Spectrum went away.
So... yeah. What's the point? The point is tonight's starting pitcher for the A's, Gio González. He's seen as a key part of the A's future rotation, after coming to Oakland from the White Sox in the Swisher trade in the off-season. He led the minors in K's last year, but so far, like just about the entire A's roster, he's underperformed, while I have no proof that, like Ned Flanders' Geo, there are any issues with velocity. After four starts to his MLB career, Geo... er... Gio, displays a 1-2 record with a 6.52 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.76, and a BAA of .267. Alongside 18 K's in 19 1/3 innings, he's added on 14 walks.
Opposing Gio will be the Angels' Joe Saunders, who comes into the game with a 14-6 mark and a 3.37 ERA. He has faced the A's twice so far this year, coming away with wins in both contests, including 8 scoreless innings in April, and a 7-4 decision on July 2nd, when he went 6 1/3.
Despite the Angels' leading the division significantly, they haven't been hot of late, and today's contest marks the first time they could win a series in a fortnight. Meanwhile, the A's issues have been well documented. To try and provide something resembling offense against Saunders, Oakland leads off with Rajai Davis, and 2-3 batters Crosby and Brown. Should be interesting. We also get to see Pennington and Patterson round out the order, so who knows what could happen? Game time somewhere in the LA/Anaheim area is at 7:05. You can catch the game locally on KICU.
Go A's!

Lineup

Oakland Athletics @ Los Angeles Angels

08/27/08 7:05 PM PDT

Oakland Athletics Los Angeles Angels
Rajai Davis - CF Gary Matthews - LF
Bobby Crosby - SS Howie Kendrick - 2B
Emil Brown - RF Mark Teixeira - 1B
Frank Thomas - DH Vladimir Guerrero - RF
Kurt Suzuki - C Torii Hunter - CF
Jack Cust - LF Garret Anderson - DH
Daric Barton - 1B Mike Napoli - C
Cliff Pennington - 3B Robb Quinlan - 3B
Eric Patterson - 2B Erick Aybar - SS